Corruption in the BPA’s case close to be unveiled

“The entity’s annihilation served as punishment for the Principality’s banking system”

The biggest Andorran financial “affaire” has names and surnames:Antoni Martí, Jordi Cinca, Ramón Cierco, Higini Cierco, Joan Pau Miquel, Jordi Pujol, Carles Fiñana, Barack Obama… the list is endless. Today we know that the crisis of the Banca Privada d’Andorra(BPA) was not a consequence of the Andorran government’s negligence by not addressing money-laundering cases, in spite of the warnings received from the United Stated for “months”. The truth is that the note issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) was meant to use the smallest bank in the Pyrenean country as a punishment for the Principality’s banking system.

The collective standpoint is that the measures adopted by the FinCEN against BPA were disproportionate, especially compared to other cases. This has caused many sectors to disapprove the disastrous performance of the regulatory entities and their decisions, which have been abrupt and based on obscure motivations. This originated a complete lack of trust in the controlling bodies.

After the FinCEN issued an indictment act against BPA, dated March 6, 2015, where it labels the bank as an entity of “special concern” regarding money-laundering matters, an outrageous sanction was authorized, which prohibited the financial entities in its jurisdiction to open and maintain correspondent accountsat all their branches.The irrational measure put the bank entity in an unsustainable situation by limiting the access to the international financial system.The only -reckless- solution the Andorran government came up with, was the liquidation of the main entity’s assets as well as its branches around the world.

Furthermore, the BPA crisis uncovered a bankingsystem that had no back up for the deposits at a central bank and questioned the whole country’s credibility.BPA was segregated into two entities: a “bad bank”, with troublesome deposits, and a “good bank”, called Vall Banc, which was acquired by the vulture fund JC Flowers for the ridiculous amount of 29 million euros a year later.

It is known that the services of the private banking have a susceptibility which has been many times exploited by corrupted politicians in order to withdraw funds from their countries of origin, aiming to keep them safe from any judicial investigation or people involved in organized crime and money laundering.This, as it turns out, was not the case.

A quick look back at the controversial statements made by the Economic Advisor at the United States embassy in Madrid, Anton K. Smith, who recognized in an email, unclassified by the United States Department of State, that his participation was carried out in coordination with the FinCEN and he mentions the “system”, a reference that reinforces the idea of a general problem related to the group of Andorran banks, and not just the BPA.

Smith estimates that since August 2014, eight months before BPA’s down fall, Andorra had already been informed about the problems in its banking system.When the minister of finance, Jordi Cinca, stood in front of the media on March 16th, 2015, reassuring that the situation was “exceptional and transitory”, he was literally not only lying, but he had also let the time pass by, not doing anything to address a crisis which could have been avoided.

Not backing down, the Cierco brothers, major shareholders at BPA, are still keeping the lawsuit with the FinCEN alive as well as the claim for 300 million euros to the Andorran government as compensation for damages caused by the bank expropriation.This fight is being supported by hundreds of savers and investors who were affected; they still hang on to the hope that justice will be made and the corruption will be unveiled.